Hi

i am finally switching to raw diet by way of chicken necks,i have a 77pd gsd male,i wonder how many kilos or grams should i feed my dog?should i have the neck grinded or just leave it as it is with bones?(scared of him gettin some splinters though)and with this diet how do i get carbohydrates,?i want to make my dogs diet simple though with not too many ingredi4ents which makes it sound like a witch potion's lol...and would you fguys know approximately how many percent of protein those necks bring in?do i feed them everyday as well?for i have been using kibbles for the longest time and with that the protein is on the label...tnx very much for reading anfd giving tips on my inquiries in advance

If this is your dogs ideal weight then you need to feed about 24-36 oz or roughly 2lbs.

You do not need to grind them up. As long as you never ever cook them before feeding he will be fine. Cooking the bones changes the molecular structure of the bone and causes them to splinter. Raw uncooked bones will crumble and not splinter.

If you have access to them, I would try to include chicken as well as necks for the first couple of weeks. Backs have a little organ meat still attached.

After a couple of weeks you can move to chicken leg quarters and begin to add ground meat (hambuger or turkey)as well as organ meats. Always be sure that chicken is the base of your dogs diet with a little red meat along with a couple of ounces of organ meat (livers, kidneys, etc). Just introduce the red meat and organ meat slowly. It is rich and can cause an upset stomach at first.

Don't be scared to move to leg quarters after a couple of weeks. Once the correct bone processing enzymes kick in, your dog will be digesting them fine. I have a 12 week old Malinois that weighs 22 lb and he eats an entire leg quarter faster than my 70 lb. female GSD.

No need to be concerned about the amount of protein in each meal. As long as you feed the appropriate amount and include chicken along with a little red meat (after a couple of weeks)you won't need to worry. Believe me, you will notice how much better RAW is for your dog. Bseides, the lable on dog food bags are distorted and the kibble is usually too high or too low in protein. This is just right.

Hey there,

Congrats on deciding to feed a raw diet!

Unfortunatly you are not getting much response to your posts because you have a bit more research to do. You can find all the answers to your questions and many more you haven't thought of yet in the following links. There is a tonne more info available online, but I do not want to overwhelm you at the get go

Once you have read those, feel free to return and ask some questions if you need to clarify things, or if you are still feeling uneasy about something. You will find a great support network here.

Happy reading!

http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm

http://leerburg.com/diet.htm

http://leerburg.com/diet2.htm

Check out the carnivora, learning center and FAQ section here too (I am not affiliated with them, just have some good info I think)
http://urbancarnivore.com/

Connie and others may chime in with some more reading/links for you to check out as well!

Tom Lonsdale books are my favorites. http://www.rawmeatybones.com/

Work Wonders http://www.rawmeatybones.com/book-ww.php is a good place to start. He also has a downloadable diet guide in the "For Pet Owners" section.